Kozhikode will be the third destination in Kerala after Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram to have a daily direct service to Dammam, which will be serviced by the new Boeing 737 aircraft, Jet Airways said in a statement here.

With the launch, the Mumbai-based carrier will operate eight flights daily from India to Saudi Arabia, making it the largest domestic operator in the region, it said.

Currently, the airline operates daily services from Kochi to Abu Dhabi, Dammam, Doha, Muscat and Sharjah, while Kuwait is connected via Abu Dhabi. It also operates a daily flight to Dammam and Muscat from Thiruvananthapuram.

With these new flights, Jet Airways will become the country's first private airline to operate over 50 daily flights to multiple destinations in the Gulf, according to the statement.